Safe Haven Law Allows Babies to Be Left at Firehouses, Police Stations and Hospitals

INDIANAPOLIS – The discovery of a deceased newborn Sunday in Indianapolis’s Eagle Creek Park highlights the need to raise awareness of Indiana’s Safe Haven Law. Authorities believe the deceased newborn could be just a day old, though an ongoing investigation may provide more answers.

Indiana’s Safe Haven Law allows caregivers to give up an unwanted baby safely, anonymously and without legal consequence. Babies left at any Indiana emergency room, firehouse or police station will be put into custody of the Indiana Division of Family and Social Services Administration before going to a foster or pre-adoptive home.

According to a July 2013 report in the Purdue Exponent, the Safe Haven Law has only been used four times in Indiana. According to the same article, nationally 2,879 babies have been safely abandoned so they can go to adoptive families. Comparing Indiana’s rate to the national rate, it appears the law is under-utilized in Indiana.

Indiana Right to Life supports efforts help caregivers utilize the life-saving law. Rep. Casey Cox (IN-85) has introduced HB 1016 in the Indiana House. This legislation would allow newborn safety incubators, or baby drop boxes, to be installed around the state. These drop boxes would give caregivers greater anonymity when leaving a baby. When a baby is placed inside the box, a silent alarm is triggered for officials to come retrieve the baby.

“The discovery of the newborn at Eagle Creek Park is a tragedy, and we pray for all involved as officials seek answers,” stated Mike Fichter, President and CEO of Indiana Right to Life. “We hope that reports of this story include information of the Safe Haven Law so all Hoosiers are aware of this option. The Safe Haven Law gives children a chance at life if their mothers feel they have no other options. We support Rep. Cox’s efforts to expand the Safe Haven Law and hope that his efforts will spread the word of this way to legally and confidently give up a baby.”

Indiana Right to Life’s mission is to protect the right to life, especially of unborn children, through positive education, compassionate advocacy and promotion of healthy alternatives to abortion.

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24 Days of Thankfulness – Day 24: Women’s Care Center Opens Next to Indiana’s Largest Abortion Business

Women’s Care Center, the largest pregnancy resource organization in the country, has opened a location directly next to Indiana’s largest abortion business. We’re thrilled that women in Indianapolis will have a life-affirming option on West 86th Street instead of visiting Planned Parenthood, where thousands of unborn babies die each year by abortion. The new Women’s Care Center opened its door in November and staff look forward to welcoming and working with Hoosier mothers.

We have so much to be thankful for in the pro-life movement in Indiana. During the 24 days leading up to Christmas, we’re taking a look at 24 reasons to give thanks. If you’re encouraged by these pro-life advances and wish to support the work of Indiana Right to Life, please visit click here or text PROLIFE to 51555.

#24daysofthankfulness

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In April, at the Right to Life of Southwest Indiana banquet in Evansville, Governor Mike Pence presented our President and CEO, Mike Fichter, with a Sagamore of Wabash award, the highest Indiana honor. Gov. Pence tweeted that he presented the award to Mike Fichter for “his lifelong commitment to the pro-life movement.”

We’re proud of this honor for Mike and we’re thankful for Gov. Pence’s commitment to the Right to Life movement!

We have so much to be thankful for in the pro-life movement in Indiana. During the 24 days leading up to Christmas, we’re taking a look at 24 reasons to give thanks. If you’re encouraged by these pro-life advances and wish to support the work of Indiana Right to Life, please visit click here or text PROLIFE to 51555.

#24daysofthankfulness

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I admit it – I’m a big fan of the old animated Christmas specials that once, long ago, marked what seemed to be the real beginning of the Christmas season. Shows like the Little Drummer Boy, the Littlest Angel, Small One, Charlie Brown’s Christmas, the Cricket On The Hearth, and of course – the ever-tragic, but ultimately uplifting, Frosty the Snowman.

Charlie Brown and Frosty have withstood the test of time and still make their annual appearances just after Thanksgiving. The others and many like them have long fallen from network favor, but thanks to eBay and the discount bin at retail stores, they survive yet today on DVD.

And then there is Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer. Maybe it’s because of that crazy animation process used to make the film. Or maybe it’s Burl Ives as the singing snowman. Or maybe it’s even the elf who wants to be a dentist – the same elf I presumed for over four decades to be named “Kirby” until I Googled it last year and learned it is actually “Hermey.” (Who names an elf Hermey? Who names anyone Hermey?) Whatever the reason, even now, Rudolph is the one Christmas special I’ll make a special effort to watch when it finally rolls around.

My guess is you’re familiar with the story – shiny nose equals no reindeer games until shiny nose saves the day, or more accurately, saves Christmas Eve. All in all, this is pretty straightforward stuff.

But for some reason last Christmas, it was the Island of Misfit Toys that really caught my attention and brought the realization that a profoundly important message lies just below the surface of Rudolph’s tinseled storyline.

There they are – the train with square wheels, the cowboy riding an ostrich, the Charlie-in-the-Box, a scooter for Jimmy, and the little doll with no seeming imperfection -all waiting for someone to love them.

Isn’t it the same in the real world? Every day there are thousands of unborn children — kids the world deems as “misfits” — waiting for someone to love them, waiting for hope in the distance, waiting for someone to save the day. Some misfits don’t look like us. Some misfits have missing or misshaped pieces. Some misfits just aren’t wanted. But these helpless misfits all wait nonetheless.

Waiting for someone. Waiting for us.

How ironic that the creator of these misfit children is Himself the original misfit born into our world, born to be despised and rejected, mocked and spat upon, and nailed to a cross so that through His stripes we may be healed. Even on the night of His birth, His mother and Joseph could find no place other than a filthy stable into which a misfit King might be born. But still He came to save the day, a misfit among misfits. Why? Because He loves us.

The truth is, we’re all misfits in one way or another. But He loves us anyway. And when we know Him and the gulf between the misfit and the sacred is bridged, how can we do any less than to reach out and help save those misfit children in the womb who — even on Christmas Eve – wait for someone to come.

May you and your family enjoy a blessed Christmas.

Mike Fichter
President and CEO

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We are thankful for a state law requiring an informed consent brochure that became official in April. This means, women seeking abortions are given a state-created informed consent brochure that provides color photos of unborn babies in various stages of development at their appointment at least 18 hours prior to the abortion.

This informed consent brochure makes sure women have all the facts before proceeding with an abortion. And because it is created by the Indiana State Department of Health, women see a standardized brochure – not something created individually by each abortion facility. Prior to this law, Indiana Right to Life identified that different providers provided different information, some of which were extremely poor quality and difficult to read.

We have so much to be thankful for in the pro-life movement in Indiana. During the 24 days leading up to Christmas, we’re taking a look at 24 reasons to give thanks. If you’re encouraged by these pro-life advances and wish to support the work of Indiana Right to Life, please visit click here or text PROLIFE to 51555.

#24daysofthankfulness

Posted by Becky Rogness | Filed Under Blog | Comments Off on 24 Days of Thankfulness – Day 22: Informed Consent Brochure